Piper not Finnick
by xxXEmmaCarstairsXxx
Summary: Piper Odair has lived a life of fame. After all, her brother is the infamous Finnick Odair. But now she is twelve and of age to be reaped. Soon, she finds herself dealing with a great inner conflict: Who she really is.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

"Ladies and gentleman, I present to you the victor of the 65th Annual Hunger Games- Finnick Odair from District 4!"

That's when it all started. That's when my normal life as a child went right out the door. That's when my brother, Finnick Odair, won the Hunger Games. He was 14. I was 4.

Ever since, I have not had a private thought. Every year I was interviewed. Every year I had to dress up and be the pretty little girl I wasn't.

Just because of Finnick.

I guess it's not his fault everyone in the Capital fell in love with him. Or that he won at an age so young.

I am Piper Odair. My sole identity in life is Finnick Odair's sister. My mom is not Susan Odair, she is Finnick's mom. My father is not Benjamin Odair, he is Finnick's dad.

I am proud of this identity, but it isn't really who I am. I am Piper or "Pip" according to Finnick. I am the only girl on the junior fishing squad. I am a tomboy. I have succeeded in failing spelling in four consecutive years.

That is the identity I want. But will I ever get it?

Chapter 1

I wake up on the day of reaping feeling both anxious and excited. This will be my first reaping.

Now, why should I worry? My name is only in there once. Well, Finnick Odair is my brother. There is no doubt in my mind that the Capital will rig the reaping so I am chosen.

I wear a simple green plaid dress and combat boots. I leave my shoulder length orange hair down. It is too short to braid and too long to clip back. I look at myself and sigh. Good enough.

I walk downstairs. My whole family sits at the table. My mother gives me a tired smile.

"Finnick and Annie will walk you to the reaping. Your father and I will see you there. You know how long the sign in lines can be."

Annie Cresta is Finnick's girlfriend. She won her Hunger Games. She lives next door.

Finnick and I eat our breakfast then head next door. He knocks.

"Coming... Uh, coming!" A fragile voice says from inside. Annie opens the door. Finnick gives her a light kiss. She hugs him. Then she hugs me.

"Let's go," Finnick says. We begin our walk.

Once we reach the sign in line, Finnick leans over and hugs me.

"See you soon," he says grimly. Then he grabs Annie's hand and walks to the stage. I join the line of children. All around me, I hear whispers.

"Mom, look! It's Piper Odair."

"I see Finnick Odair's sister!"

I try to ignore it. They prick my finger and sign me in and I line up among the other twelve year olds.

Like always, we watch the whole video on how "rebellion is bad". Then Morgana, the escort, walks over and fishes a girls' name out of the bowl. I hear her high heels click clacking on the stage as she heads to the microphone.

"Piper Odair." _Shocker! _I don't stand there in stunned silence like most people do. Instead, I push past people and walk confidently onto the stage.

The boy, Laurence Kefty, looks about 16. He also looks incredibly nervous. He probably knows that his twelve year old counterpart is going to whip his butt.

I sit in the Justice Building, waiting for my parents to come say good bye. Finnick won't come. He is going to see me the whole trip.

The door bursts open and my parents come in.

"Oh Piper," My mom cries as she hugs me, "You just... Try to win, okay? We want you to come home. We need you to be safe."

"I will Mom. I'm going to win. If the Capital is going to rig it so I am picked, I will win to show them up."

"That's my girl," My dad says, "Train hard. We'll see you soon."

The Peacekeeper comes to inform them their time is up. They hug me one last time and then leave.

I didn't think that anyone else would come, but I was wrong.

"Mags," I say as I cross the room and hug her. She hugs me back and reaches up to pat me on the head.

"Win Piper. Like Finnick," She mumbles, but there is a smile on her face as she says it.

"I will Mags, I will."

"Good, good," She mutters and hobbles out the door.

I watch as district 3 flies by outside the train window. It is filled with large factories and tall buildings. Smoke billows out of the factories. The school textbook calls District 3 the industrial district. They make all of our machines and technology.

"Pip, we're watching the reapings. Come on," Finnick says, suddenly appearing in the door behind me.

I follow him to the living area and sit down on the couch next to Annie. Finnick sits on the other side of her.

For the showings of the reapings, they start with District 1. A girl is chosen and before a boy can even be picked, another boy volunteers. The girl rolls her eyes. For the sake of everyone else around me, I restrain my laughter.

In District 3, a girl who looks about 14 is picked. She has long brown hair tied back in a braid going all the way down in her back. Her name is Artemia.

The boy from District 10 actually breaks down crying in front of everyone and has to be dragged onto the stage.

Other than that, nothing stands out.

I personally think-and hope-that I look intimidating. Even though I'm Finnick's sister, I'm still twelve and no one ever takes the twelve year olds seriously.

I am aiming to change their minds.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I hope all of this ripping and scrubbing and waxing pays off. For the last oh, _hour or so,_ my prep team has been scrubbing me clean. I stole a glance at myself in the mirror and almost fell backwards. I did not look anything like myself.

Then, they begin applying makeup. I stand there in huffed silence trying not to complain.

It's very hard.

Finally, they leave and a moment later, a stylist comes in. _My _stylist, that is.

She has straight blue hair and a touch of makeup. So, surprisingly normal actually.

"I am Rose. Welcome to the Capital."

"Hi Rose. And what a crummy introduction to the Capital this has been."

She begins rummaging through the outfits she brought with her while she answers.

"True, I'm afraid." She says, sighing, "Here is your chariot costume."

My mouth falls open. Rose is holding a cream colored dress with blue at the bottom. And here I was expecting her to tell me to take off my clothes and put a fishing net on. I strip off my robe and put the dress on.

"It's supposed to be like a sea goddess," Rose explains, smiling lightly.

I take a deep breath and climb into the chariot.

"Go get 'me Pip," Finnick says, popping a sugar cube into his mouth.

I can't help grinning, "Just go easy on the sugar cubes Finnick," I tell him.

And then it happens. The chariot rolls out into the open and I see the screaming crowds of the Capital. Suddenly, I feel very vulnerable in my toga like dress.

Laurence smirks at my discomfort, "Not one for the camera are ya?"

"Shut it Laurence or I swear I'll make you pay in the arena."

He snorts, "Good luck getting sponsors with that attitude."

I turn away from him to face the crowds. They scream and point at me. Much to my surprise, I smile and wave at them. I guess it's surprising what you will do given a chance.

We finally pull to a stop in front of the Presidential Palace where President Snow is standing on a podium. When all the chariots have gathered, he raises his hands for silence.

"Welcome tributes, to Seventy Third Annual Hunger Games! Citizens of Panem both here and at home, we hope that you enjoy watching this year's Hunger Games!"

Everyone cheers. I stay locked in place.

"So, I bid you happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!" The chariots begin exiting the way they came in. The crowds cheer for us and I try not to cower in the chariot. I am relieved when I can finally get out.

Finnick hugs me and I can almost feel the guilt rolling off of him. After all, if he hadn't won, I probably wouldn't be in this situation right now. But he wouldn't be here period.

I excuse myself and go to my room. I rid my face of the ridiculous makeup and put on a simple blue nightgown. I turn on the TV and watch to reruns of the chariots rides.

I look unrecognizable with my fancy dress and smiling face. Artemia looks fierce in her costume. She doesn't wave to the crowds at all. But her partner does. I wonder why she doesn't.

The next day begins training. My prep team insists on dressing me and putting some light makeup on my face but I will have none of it. I dress myself and don't even bother touching that makeup.

The training outfit is an athletics tank top and stretchy athletic capri pants. The shoes are combat boots that make almost no sound as I walk. In other words, my kind of clothes.

I make my way to the training room solo. I didn't want or need anyone with me and Laurence was still sleeping. I jab the button that says TR, which can only stand for training room.

The elevator doors open and I walk into the room. I am one of the first ones there. Slightly curious, I look around the room. I have never seen the inside of the training room before.

Then the elevator doors open again and the girl from District 3- Artemia walks in. She scans the room before walking over towards me. I pretend to be completely occupied with my looking-around-the-room.

Needless to say, it doesn't convince her.

"You're Piper right? Finnick Odair's sister?" She asks.

"Yes, I am Piper," I reply, not confirming whether I am Finnick's sister or not.

"Do you mind if I train with you today?" She asks cautiously, like I am a bomb about to go off.

"So you can make note of my talents and know my weaknesses? I don't think so!" I say angrily.

Artemia seems slightly offended and rolls her eyes, "And you can do the same thing to me? Believe me, if I wanted to spy on you, I wouldn't do it this way."

She does have a point.

"Okay," I say, letting my tone say the part I'm leaving out. The "be careful" part.

"Tributes, gather around!" Atala, the head trainer, is calling us over.

Artemia and I get up and go to where she is standing. She gives us a lecture on not fighting with other tributes and training hard and not-spending-the-entire-time-fighting. Then she sends us off to do our thing.

"Where to first?" I ask Artemia.

She scans the room, "How about knot tying?"

I chuckle to myself, "Okay Artemia."

She winces as we cross the room, "Please just call me Art."

This seems like an odd nickname but I go with it. We reach the knot tying station which is empty except for us and the District 12 boy. I grab some rope and go sit down. I tie a knot, untie, tie a trip knot, untie it. Artemia marvels at my work.

"How do you do that?" She exclaims.

"It's easy," I say. I reach over and help her with a basic trap that will tie an enemy up in a tree.

After a while, we figure out that knot tying isn't her thing. We move on to the knife throwing station, me in front, her grumbling in tow.

As we throw knives (which plays more to Artemia's strengths than knot tying did) I can't help thinking that I've made a grave mistake by befriending Artemia, one that will come to bite me in the back later.

The Games are no place for friendship.

**Author's Note**

So, what do you think? I'm new to this so constructive criticism is appreciated. I'm sorry if the chapters are short, I'm trying to work on making them longer.

So long my readers

-Skye


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_Wham! _My spear hits the center of its target.

"How do you do that?" Artemia marvels, like she has been doing the past two days.

I stare at my hand like there is something special about them, "No idea," I reply.

"Well, at least I'm still smarter than you," Artemia says as she picks up a spear.

I smirk, "Yeah, a district 3 nerd."

She flashes me a look and her spear hits the target.

"At least this nerd can throw mediocrely." she says happily, as we both look at her spear in the target.

I decide to try something new. I grab two spears, one in each hand and and aim one. Before it even hits the center of the target, I throw the second one, which also hits the center. I hear a whistle behind me.

I spin around. It's the career pack. Artemia seems to fade into the shadows. I face them boldly.

"Do you need something?" I ask, quite rudely actually. But it's not like I expect them to show me kindness.

They all smirk.

"See Luke, I told you!" The girl from District 1 says to the District 2 boy.

He doesn't even take his eyes off me as he responds, "Shut it _Ruby. _I'm the leader of this pack not you." Ruby rolls her eyes.

"So, D4. I heard you have some victor blood in you," Luke squints at me,"Aren't you an Odair?"

I draw myself up, "Yes. And aren't you a... Wait. No one in your family was a victor. Oh how sad..."

I expect him to lose it and launch himself at me but he keeps his cool, "I didn't come here to pick a fight Odair. I was going to invite you to join our pack."

I stare at him, but I know that I can't be a Career. They are only asking me to join because they find me a threat. And if I join them, they could easily kill me. They outnumber me.

"No. You can take your _Careers _and get out. I want to win this alone." I turn back to my spear target.

Ruby hisses, "You'll regret that Odair."

I can almost hear Luke smirking, "No... she seemed pretty confident to me." They all laugh and walk away.

Artemia looks at me in shock, "You just made yourself a target for them! My mentor, Beetee says that the last thing you want to do is make yourself a target for the careers!"

I shrug, "I already was a target. It doesn't matter."

I sit in the small room with the other tributes, waiting for my turn to show off to the Gamemakers. They just called the District 2 girl, Reyna a minute ago. I am glad that I only have to wait through six tributes before my turn.

"Luke Tapethy, report for private training." Luke gives his customary smirk as he walks into the training room. I lean back and look at Artemia, who is separated from me only by the boy from her district.

"Artemia Stolfi, report for private training." Artemia grimaces at me as she gets up and walks out the door. I breath out.

"Nervous?" Laurence whispers in my ear. I resist the urge to punch him in the gut. I will save that for the games.

"You wish," I answer. He laughs without humor. They call Artemia's district partner. I am next.

"Worried that you'll get a bad score and embarrass your brother?" Laurence says.

"Worried that you'll get outshone by a twelve year old?" I retort. His insults won't bother me. If ignoring insults was a profession, I would be top of the class. I have it down to an art.

"Piper Odair, report for private training." I get up and walk out.

The training room is the same as always. Except for the Gamemakers, obviously. I don't need to announce my name to get their attention, I already have it. I need to make the most of it.

I walk to the spear throwing station and grab two, one in each hand. I am rewarded with two thuds as the spears hit their targets. I throw two more. They also hit the targets. I grab four throwing knives. Four _whams! _as they all hit their targets.

I look at the Gamemakers who look impressed, but still haven't dismissed me. I could either shoot some arrows or tie knots.

I look back at the Gamemakers. They want to be impressed. I grab a dummy and tie it to the ceiling with a simple knot we use all the time in District 4. Then I climb. I climb into the ceiling structure of the training room, two spears in hand.

I launch myself from the ceiling, tossing my spear and the dummy in mid air. Right before I land I throw the second one. I land on my feet. Both spears hit the dummy's heart. The Gamemakers dismiss me.

"How did your private session go?" Finnick asks Laurence and I.

I swallow and nod, "It went go. I threw spears from the ceiling."

Laurence stares at me, "Gee that's impressive. _Not. _I did swordplay."

I roll my eyes in annoyance, "Because swords are _soo _exciting I'm sure."

He points his fork at me, "Well it helped me get in with the Careers."

"They asked me to be with them but I said no. And I'd be willing to bet that they came to me first." I reply curtly.

Everyone looks up. "You what?" Morgana asks, shocked.

I shrug, "I turned down the Careers. There's only going to be one victor and it will be harder to kill me if they don't know where I am."

Annie nods, "Smart."

Morgana splutters for a couple of minutes but eventually calms down. Finnick just stares at me proudly. Annie seems to have retreated to her own little world again.

Then, the TV turns on. Everyone sits straight up and stares at it intently. The moment of truth.

"Let's start with District 1," Caeser Flickerman says, "We have Shaw with a score of 8 and Ruby with a score of 9."

I raise my eyebrows. Those are low score for a career district.

"District 2!" Caesar Flickerman announces, "Reyna with a score of 10 and Luke Tapethy with a score of 10."

I was completely expecting that. The District 2 tributes generally get the best scores.

Artemia gets a 9. Laurence gets a 7. Then it's my turn.

"Piper Odair, with a score of 11!"

We all stand up and cheer. Caesar continues but I don't pay attention. The highest score I hear is an eight anyway.

Laurence is not cheering. I don't blame him. I would be disappointed if I had gotten an 7.

I receive many congratulations. Everyone is patting me on the back and clapping.

"Nice move Pip," Finnick whispers, just like he did when I joined the Junior Fishing Squad, just like he did when I beat the sprinting record at school.

I turn and hug him. He picks me up and spins me around like he used to before everything changed, before he won the Hunger Games. But I know, in my heart that even if I win, nothing will ever be like it was before.

**Author's Note**

Third chapter in two days! Whoop-whoop!

I'm trying my very best to keep Finnick in character and also trying to make sure Piper has enough personality depth.

I know I haven't touched in a lot about who Piper really is and her true personality but there will be plenty of that when she's in the arena.

Again, review, review, review! I want to know what you think.

Also, I'm thinking of uploading another fanfiction, it will most likely be Mortal Instruments related, let me know if you would read it.

So long my readers.

-Skye


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Today is the dreaded day. The interview day. People have seen my 11 in training. Now they want to know more about me.

If we were getting scored on the interviews, I'd probably get a 5, at most. Just saying.

The most dreaded day is off to a bad start too. First, I had to be up early (at like 6!) so my prep team could get me ready.

They were finally finished at 10:00. So, I went down to breakfast and found that all that they had left out for me was a piece of really yucky toast and an apple.

Now, I am with Morgana learning how to look and act on stage. God knows how much help I need with this...

"Piper! Are you listening?" She snaps.

"No," I say honestly.

She sighs, "Well, you need to start. I'm going to ask you some example questions and you need to answer them as if you were on stage at the interview. Okay?"

"Okay," I sigh, letting my annoyance show.

As you can imagine, this went very well.

"Did you even try Pip?" Finnick asks, exasperatedly.

"Sort of." I say truthfully. I pick at my fish sandwich moodily. Finnick always raves about how good the Capitol food is, but so far I'm not impressed.

Rose gets up and wipes her mouth off, "Let's go Piper. You need to get ready."

I sigh and follow her out of the room. She leads me to the small room where I got ready for the chariot parade.

First, she makes me undress so she can give me a final scrub down. Then, she does my stupid makeup and hair. Finally, she hands me my dress.

It is a misty green color, like the ocean. It flows down to my ankles, making me look way older than I really am. I also wear plain blue dress shoes.

I look nothing like myself.

Rose smiles like something good happened, "There. You look splendid."

I scowl, "I look like a 16 year old."

She nods, "Good. The younger tributes never get many sponsors."

"_Well," I think, "I'm not your average 12 year old tribute. I'm Finnick Odair's sister!" _I want to say this but I don't.

I am up on the stage waiting with the other tributes. I don't want to be here. And I most certainly don't want to be the seventh person to go.

They call Ruby down. She is wearing a short red dress covered with well, rubies. She must have visited the Capitol before because Caesar is asking her how if feels like to be here as a tribute.

Luke talks about honor and pride and how winning isn't just about fame and fortune. It's about bringing great honor to your district.

Artemia seems shy and unrevealing. She wears a skinny black dress that represents her very well.

Then it's my turn.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let's give it up for Piper Odair!"

My legs positively shake as I walk onto the stage. I'm glad my dress hides them. If it weren't for the fact that this is how I'll get sponsors, I would have flat out refused to do it.

I sit down with Caesar.

"Piper, Piper, where to start? You're Finnick Odair's sister. You're in the Games. You hold the possibility to bring a second victor into the Odair family. What is in this for you?"

"I just want to win. I am a very determined person and I want to win. So I will. Like Luke was saying earlier, it's all about honor isn't it?"

I am making him look bad and people notice. They direct the camera to his face. He looks furious. I smirk.

"That eleven in training Piper, could you talk about that?" Caesar asks politely.

"I figured that it might just be worth it to make myself a target in the arena. I mean, I can't help the fact that I have incredible skills."

Everyone laughs.

"Cocky, isn't she?" Caesar says to the audience.

"One last question for you Piper. At the reaping, I noticed that you seemed pretty eager to get onto that stage. Why was that?"

Oh thank god. Bless Caesar for mentioning that. It will help me in the sponsor department.

"Well, it has always been my dream to fight to the death." Laughter from the crowd, "But honestly I just wanted to show people who I was, for them to remember me."

Caesar nods, "I'm sure we will. Thank you Piper Odair!"

I exit the stage. Thank god that's over.

I can't sleep that night. Even though I (strangely) am not at all nervous for the Hunger Games, I am unable to stop thinking about it. Do I have enough sponsors? Will the arena have water? What type of terrain will the arena have? Will the Cornucopia have spears?

I lay in bed thinking about those things all night. I wish my games could be as easy as Annie's was. All she had to do was survive two days and then swim through the flood that took out the rest of the tributes.

I have a gut feeling that mine won't be so simple.

My plan is to grab what I need from the Cornucopia and get out. I'm fast. I can do it.

Finnick told me that it wouldn't be smart to get involved in the Bloodbath and I agree. As fun as it would be to duke it out with Luke and Ruby, taking part in the Bloodbath requires physical strength that I don't have.

I guess we'll see what happens tomorrow.

When I wake up, I find a pair of skin tight waterproof shorts and a heat absorbant athletic t-shirt. I put them on, dearly hoping that this means what I think it means.

After breakfast, I have to say goodbye to Finnick and Annie. I have to say goodbye to Morgana as well, but I don't care so much about her.

I hug Annie who is trying as hard as she can to keep it together and not hunker into her little world.

Then I walk to Finnick. He has tears in his eyes. I hug him tight. He starts crying. I can hear it.

"Don't make me cry," I say sternly. He continues to cry.

"I just don't want to lose you," he whispers.

"I know," I whisper back,"You won't"

Rose comes in just then and Finnick and I break apart.

"Time to go Piper," She says, checking her watch,"Can't be late."

We get to ride in a fancy Captial train to the airport. We have to split up for the ride to the arena. I will be in the tribute plane and Rose will be in the stylist plane.

On the plane ride, attendants go around injecting us with our trackers. I catch Artemia's eye and give her a weak smile. She tries to return it but has to look away. She seems to be on the verge of tears.

I meet back up with Rose in the facility under the arena. She hand me my outfit for the arena. It is a wetsuit like we have in District 4. It is short sleeve. She also gives me waterproof, yet not clunky, boots to replace my other shoes. Finally, she hand me a waterproof jacket. I am almost giddy with joy.

Rose smiles, "You know what this means, right?" She gestures to my clothes.

I nod, "There will be water in the arena."

"Which means you and Laurence are at an advantage." Rose says.

I scowl, "Laurence? Please. He doesn't even have a job out on the water. He works in town, calculating the orders for the fish."

"20 seconds." A voice says over the loudspeaker. I walk towards my tube.

"Good luck." Rose says and raises her hand in goodbye. I am determined it won't be the last time I see her.

The tube rises up and up. Then I am in the arena. The clock begins counting down from 60. I look around the arena. The Cornucopia is hidden from view, but I can see the stem of it sticking up. It is underground. How will I get to it?


	5. Chapter 5

Then I look down. All around every tributes pedestals are little pools about 10 ft. wide. I know what I have to do. I wonder if anyone else will figure it out.

I poise my feet and arch my back so I will be prepared to dive. No one will be able to recognize this as diving position except Laurence who is stuck. He's with the Careers and he has to do what they do.

The clock is at 10 seconds now. I catch Artemia's eye and jerk my head towards the water and she nods, a smile playing onto her face. I hope she understands.

The gong goes off. I dive down into the water. There is space above the water for me to breath. I see the Cornucopia. I swim towards it.

Most of the stuff floats above the water. The backpacks appear to be waterproof. I grab an orange backpack with a sleeping bag attached. Then I go for the weapons. I grab a vest with knives in all the pockets. I shove the whole thing into my backpack. Then, I grab a bag of spear points which I also stuff into my bag. I then grab two spear shafts. Just for good measure, I grab a bow and a quiver of arrows. The more weapons I have, the less the Careers will have.

No one is down here yet. I hear shouts and screams above me. People must have swam through the puddles into the center near the stem.

Now, how will I get out? I swim around trying to find an exit and eventually I do.

I get out and wipe the water out of my eyes. Then I dash away from the screams and shouts of the Bloodbath into the trees.

Once I find what I determine to be safe ground, I take off my jacket and put the knife vest on under it. I put it back on for warmth. I sling the quiver and bow over my shoulder. Then I unzip the bag.

I lucked out. In the bag there is a bag of dried fruit, a bag of dried beef, a rope, a long knife, a box of matches, a first aid kit, and an empty water bottle. I open the second pocket and almost scream with joy. There is a full water skin inside the backpack, the kind you drink from the straw inside the backpack.

Maybe I don't need sponsors after all.

When night comes, I take shelter in a tree, high above the ground. I get in the sleeping bag and I just finish strapping myself in when the anthem begins. The first picture is the boy from District 1- Shaw. Somehow I am not surprised. But the rest of the Careers survived. They're on District 3 now. I hold my breath. They do not show Artemia's face. Her district partner is dead, but she, thankfully, is not. Laurence somehow survived. In all, 13 tributes died. 11 tributes left. That's a very bloody Bloodbath right there.

I do not know how I slept that night. I was almost positive the Careers were looking for me, hoping to find me weak and vulnerable. But I put my faith in the tree to camouflage me and I fell asleep.

I woke that morning to bird chirping... scratch that. I woke to screaming in the distance.

"NO!" The distinctly female voice screams, "PLEASE!"

The Careers, it seemed, were early risers. Less than a minute after the screams, a canon rang of. 10 left.

I unstrapped myself from the tree and packed up my sleeping bag. I hopped down from the tree. Just in case of an attack, I held one knife in each hand.

"Going somewhere?"

I spin around and pin the speaker to the ground, knife point on throat.

I look at the speaker. It is a boy who looks about 15 but is probably older than that. I try to place him. District 6? No. 8? No, both of their tributes are already dead. 5? I look at him again. Yes probably.

He winces under the force of my grasp, "Come on, let me go. I didn't know who you were."

I shove my knife harder. One more jab and he'd have a solid cut in his throat, "Oh really? Who am I then?"

"Piper- Piper Odair! District 4!" He cries. But before I can decide how I should kill him, a whoosh of wind washes over me. I look and gasp in alarm. A tornado is whipping through the terrain.

I push myself away from the boy, "Oh dang it." I mutter. Well, actually that's not what I said. But let's just assume it was.

I get up and dash away as fast as I can. Then I reach a cliff. I skid to a stop. For a second I think I'm trapped but the cliff is grassy not rocky. I fling myself down it.

I confess, my first thought was, "_Great so this is how I die."_

I will also confess that my second thought was, "_I'm glad I didn't kill that District 5 boy."_

But it turns out that both of those thoughts didn't matter because about two minutes later I stopped rolling and opened my eyes. I wasn't surrounded by angels and whiteness and _hey what do you know? _I was breathing too.

I reach for my backpack and grab the first aid kit. Inside there is some healing ointment, bandages, and what I presume to be pain medicine. A slight disappointment but it will do.

I survey my arms and legs for injuries and find two cuts on my left leg. I apply the ointment and wrap bandages around them. I also have a small cut on my cheek. I apply the healing ointment to that as well.

Finally, I look at my surroundings. I sit in a muddy pit at the bottom of the grassy cliff I rolled down. There's no sign of the tornado but I am in a vulnerable position so I gather my supplies and weapons and head into the safety of the nearby trees.

The sun is starting to set by the time I find a nice tree to camp out in. I roll out my sleeping bag and use the rope to tie myself to the tree. Then the anthem starts to play.

Strangely, only one tribute died, the boy from five who I almost killed. He probably got taken out by the tornado. You would think that a tornado would kill more than one tribute, but no. I have a bad feeling that the tornado had been meant to specifically target me. I suppose the D5 boy got killed because he had the unfortunate luck to be near me.

The sky goes dark and everything settles back to silence. Then the significance comes to me: there are only nine of us left. We are two days in and only nine tributes are still standing. This can mean one of two things: either the Gamemakers want this to be a quick games or there won't be much action for the next few days. I believe it's the latter.

The next morning I wake up to find the birds are actually chirping. This place will be the deathbed of twenty-three children and the Gamemakers went ahead and put songbirds in here. It seems like crude humor to me.

Author's Note:

REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! It only takes a minute and it means so much! Just show that you appreciate my writing! If no one reviews, I'll assume that no one likes it and then I won't make frequent uploads.

So long my readers,

~Skye


	6. Chapter 6

The next three days are sort of one big blur. I go into autopilot mode. Every morning, I gather my supplies and head through the arena looking for food. At night I find a new tree to sleep in. I watch the sky for the death report but the first day shows nothing. The second day- nothing. The third has nothing.

But when I wake up on the fourth day, (sixth arena day) something is different. I can just tell that there's going to be at least one death today. Instead of going out with my two knives, I do something different. I want to be prepared for the horrors this day will surely bring. I get out my bag of spear points. I take my two spears and attach a point to each spear. Then I hop down from the tree and set off, a spear in each hand.

I have an encounter with another tribute early that day. I recognize her as the girl from District 6. I think her training score was a eight. But I remember seeing her running laps in the training room. She was fast.

I saw her first. Her once beautiful face is covered in a mixture of blood and dirt. Her hair looks like it has been hacked off with a knife. She looks up and sees me. Her eyes get very wide and she backs away in fright.

Even though she's older than me, I feel bad for her.

"It's okay," I whisper, "I promise I won't kill you."

I watch her take in my two spears, my bow and arrows, and the knives sticking out of my pocket. I walk closer to her which probably isn't smart but I don't think she has a weapon. She doesn't even have a backpack.

The closer I get, the whiter her face gets. Finally, she sits down on the ground and starts sobbing.

"Just make it quick okay?" she sobs.

Suddenly, I get angry.

"Will you stop crying?" I hiss, "I told you: I'm not going to kill you. Are you injured?"

She looks up. The tears have smeared the blood and dirt on her face. It looks like she had a fight with a swamp- and the swamp won.

"My arm," she whispers, "The girl from District 2, she cut me." The girl holds out her arm which is covered in dried blood. From what I can tell, she was cut near her wrist.

"I'll clean you up," I say firmly, "What's your name?"

"Fawn," she says, her voice barely a whisper, "You're Piper. Right?"

I nod as I dig my medical kit and water bottle out of my bag. I first pour water over her arm to get the dried blood off. Once it is all off, I examine the cut. It's pretty bad. It obviously needs to be stitched up but I don't have the supplies or medical talent to do that. So, instead I rub the slowly draining supply of ointment on it and wrap it in bandages. Fawn watches me while I work.

I finish wrapping the bandage and hand her a piece of dried fruit. She eyes it skeptically like I may have poisoned it or something.

I sigh, "If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already. Here, watch this." I grab another piece of dried fruit and eat it. Finally, hunger wins her over and she eats the fruit.

"Have you killed anyone yet?" Fawn asks.

"No." I reply, wondering what the purpose of her question was. I'm packing up, getting ready to leave but she keeps talking.

"I did." she whispers, "I killed my district partner. I don't know why. I saw him at the Bloodbath so I took a knife- they were all over the ground- and killed him. I just- I just want to get home." Then she starts to sob again. I lean down to comfort her but she keeps talking, "After I killed him, I dropped the knife and ran. I didn't want him to die- he was always nice to me. I tried to kill myself though, before I dropped the knife."

I am shocked, "But… I thought the D2 girl stabbed you…"

"No, I did it. I couldn't believe what I did. So I stabbed myself."

"Fawn, I have to leave now. But here," I hand her the rest of the dried fruit, "Take this. And don't worry. I'm sure he understands why you did it. The Games do things to people. Don't feel guilty."

I almost give her one of my knives but decide that that would be a bad idea. She sighs and takes the dried fruit, avoiding looking at me.

"Thanks," she finally mutters, "But I don't deserve it."

I know it's selfish of me, but I leave her sobbing in the clearing. I had done all I could. If she really wanted to win, she shouldn't have tried to commit suicide!

Then I hear screams in the distance. But they sound like a boy's scream so I don't worry. About a minute later, the cannon sounds. Eight left.

I get my first kill that day. I come across him in the woods. It is the boy from District Ten. He sees me and a smirk settles onto his face as he raises his bow.

The smirk unnerves me. It ticked me off. So, I lost my temper and sent my spear flying. It hits him square in the chest.

_Boom!_ It's my first kill. I go over and remove the spear from his chest, feeling only slight regret. Then I take his arrows and add them to my quiver. I find some food and a new first aid kit in his bag. I take both. I'm about to leave when the guilt crashes onto me. I turn around. I have to at least give him the proper sendoff.

In District 4, every time someone dies, we have a district-wide funeral. At the funeral, everyone has to honor the dead body, no matter what.

We have this sendoff thing we do. It's supposed to give the spirit of the person safely to the heavens. To do it, you place a hand on your heart. Then you take the same hand and place it on the dead person's body. Finally, you take your hand from the body and hold it up to the sky.

I perform this ritual on the District 10 boy's body. After doing it, I feel little better. Maybe I'm not completely heartless.

That night there are two faces in the sky. One is the District 10 boy. The other is the District 11 boy.

There are now seven tributes left. Part of me is excited. I'm closer to getting home. Home to Finnick. Home to my parents.

The other part of me feels dread. What if I have to be the one to kill Artemia or Fawn? I don't think I could do that. Luke, I would have no problem. Same goes for Laurence and Ruby. I think about the girl from District 2, Reyna. In some ways, I feel bad for her. I don't think Luke was ever nice to her. I wonder if she's even part of the Career Pack.

I wake up the next morning to a canon. I pray that it's not Artemia before getting up and going on my way.

But it isn't. The reason I know? About two hours after I heard the canon, I hear a scream. I have heard a lot of screams in the past week or so but this one sounds familiar.

It sounds like Artemia.

I'm running now, throwing all caution to the wind.

I find her on the ground, clutching the side of her chest. Blood coats her hand and tears stream down her face. I kneel next to her.

"Oh Artemia..." I whisper, "Who did this to you?"

"Luke. Sword. I wasn't... wasn't being careful. I can't win," Tears glisten in her eyes, "You'll have to win for both of us."

I shake my head, "No. No Art. You're going to make it. I have medicine for cuts in here..." I begin rummaging in my bag.

"It's no good Piper... This is a little bigger than a cut." She lifts her hands slightly so I can see her wound.

I wince at the sight of it. No medicine will be able to fix it. Artemia gives a strangled breath in and out.

"It's okay," I say, "You can let go."

She nods, looking tired, "When you go on your victory tour to District 3, find the boy named Galen and tell him I'm sorry."

She lets her last gust of air out and a canon goes off.

I step away in horror. I perform the same ritual on her that I did on the D10 boy but I feel like I should do more.

So I do.

I first thing I do is pray for her. Then I pray for District 3. Finally, I turn to where I hope the camera are and make my speech.

"People of District 3: Artemia was a brave tribute but that doesn't mean much because all tributes are brave. However, Artemia was a different kind of brave. Something kept motivating her to keep going," I pause, thinking about what to say next, "I don't know what that something was but it must have been special. She really wanted to get home. So, whatever or whomever she wanted to get home for, let me tell you that she wanted to come back very badly. I know I will always remember her. I hope you do too."

By then I'm crying. I grab the spears I dropped and leave Artemia's body for the hovercraft to get.


End file.
